Vikings offense: Getting there is half the battle

Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune

Visanthe Shiancoe

The Vikings offense often has stalled short of the red zone, and some players have stepped up and offered to be part of the solution.

By Kevin Seifert and Judd Zulgad, Star Tribune

Last update: October 11, 2007 - 10:30 PM

Fact: No NFL team has scored fewer offensive touchdowns than the Vikings this season.

The gray area: why, and how to fix it.

After spending much of their bye week studying the problem, the Vikings have generated strong and sometimes conflicting opinions. Thursday, tight end Visanthe Shiancoe joined a group of players who say the offense loses intensity near the opponent's 20-yard line. Shiancoe, like receiver Robert Ferguson earlier this week, said he can contribute more than he has been asked to as the team approaches scoring position.

The real problem, according to offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, is that individual mistakes have stalled too many drives outside the red zone. "It's getting past that 35- or 30-yard line to be able to use our plays that we've been working in the red zone [in practice]," Bevell said.

The Vikings have four offensive touchdowns and have made only six trips inside the red zone this season, fewest among the league's 32 teams. Fifteen of their drives have stalled between the opponent's 25-yard line and the 50, ending in a punt or turnover.

Why are more than a third of their possessions stagnating in opponents' territory? That answer appears up for debate at Winter Park.

Shiancoe, for one, said the Vikings get "too lax" once they cross the 50.

"We need to stay with that same hunger that we use driving down the field," he said. "We think we've made it, but we haven't made it yet. We don't finish. That's the problem with the offense, is that we don't finish. We get too lackadaisical."

Said receiver Bobby Wade: "We do great between the 30s, rushing and passing the ball. But we've got to really smell blood when we get into the red zone. We've got to really take shots and try to put [touchdowns] up instead of [field goals]."

During a meeting Thursday, Bevell said he told players that self-inflicted obstacles have scuttled most of the stalled drives.

"It hasn't been anything that the defense has done to us," Bevell said. "It's been what we've done to ourselves, whether it's been a missed assignment, whether it's been a penalty, just little things that we've inflicted onto ourselves.

"Our focus this week is that it's about us. It's not about anybody that we're playing. It's about us and what we can do."

When they signed Shiancoe as a free agent in March, the Vikings believed they had a player who could help them score more than they did last season -- when they averaged 1.6 offensive touchdowns per game. Athletic tight ends can take advantage of mismatches near the end zone; consider Chicago's tandem of Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen, who have caught a combined 25 passes already this season, including three for touchdowns.

Shiancoe has managed nine receptions for 166 yards, with one touchdown taken away in a controversial call Sept. 23 at Kansas City. Shiancoe said he has been limited not by opposing defenses but by the structure of the Vikings offense.

"I thought I was going to be more involved in the passing game than I am now," he said. "But if they want me to stay in and block, I'll stay in and block. Or if they want me to run some routes to clear out for another wide receiver -- that's what I've been doing a lot -- that's what I'll do.

Shiancoe added: "Definitely, I would like to see the ball more in those situations. I feel I can help our offense."

Asked how he proposed getting more involved, Shiancoe said: "It's really up to Childress and [Bevell]," he said.

Earlier this week, Ferguson said he planned to seek out coaches to suggest ways he could help the offense score more touchdowns. Last season, then-Vikings receiver Marcus Robinson said the coaching staff generally was not receptive to recommendations.

Shiancoe, for his part, said: "We're the employees.

"We're not going to draw up the plays," he said. "[Coaches] draw up the plays, and we run them. I'd prefer to get the ball more, but, hey ..."

Kevin Seifert • kseifert@startribune.com Judd Zulgad • jzulgad@startribune.com

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